Proposed East Village/Lower East Side Historic District. Credit: LPC

New district would encompass more than 300 buildings in an area that was home to successive waves of immigrant groups. On June 26, 2012, Landmarks heard extensive testimony on the proposed designation of the East Village/Lower East Side Historic District. The proposed district would encompass approximately 330 buildings located primarily along Second Avenue between St. Marks Place and East 2nd Street and adjacent side streets. A portion of the district would extend along East 6th and East 7th Streets, reaching Avenue A.

The area is largely characterized by multi-family 19th century tenement buildings that housed various immigrant groups newly arrived to the country. The area became home to German and Irish immigrants as wealthier New Yorkers moved uptown, and in time became known as Kleindeutschland (Little Germany). Later, the area became home to Jewish and Eastern European immigrants, and Second Avenue became a focal point for lower Manhattan’s Jewish community, gaining the title of the “Yiddish Rialto.” After World War II, the neighborhood came to be dominated by Latin American immigrants. Realtors began calling the neighborhood the “East Village” shortly after the removal of the elevated Third Avenue subway line in 1955. The area has a rich legacy in the arts, and in social activism. Landmarks calendared the district on June 28, 2011.

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Rule amendment would expand staff-level approval authority for some types of window and sign alterations. On March 1, 2011, Landmarks held a public hearing on proposed amendments to the rules pertaining to construction work on properties under Landmarks’ jurisdiction. Landmarks proposed the changes to streamline the application review process, codify current practices and policies, and address inconsistencies. Chair Robert B. Tierney stated that the proposal was partially intended to remove from the calendar issues that have consistently been decided based on similar circumstances and to make the City’s preservation law as “simple [and] transparent as possible.

The rules include permitting staff-level approval of modifications to certain visible windows, more staff-level approval of storefront signage, and expedited review of cellar and basement work provided it would not involve excavation. The new rules would no longer allow staff-level approval of modifications to non-visible windows on the top floors of rowhouses, keeping with comments from Commissioners regarding the significance of historic rowhouses. The changes would require staff to consider applications for rear or roof additions in the context of aggregate enlargements to the buildings, including approved and grandfathered additions. The definition of mechanical equipment would be broadened to include solar panels, wind turbines, and micro turbines, in order to ease the approval of green technologies. (read more…)

Extension encompasses 135 properties bordering the east and west sides of the original historic district. On May 11, 2010, Landmarks voted to designate the SoHo-Cast Iron District Extension. The extension includes 135 properties and consists of two subsections bordering the eastern and western sides of the original 1973 SoHo-Cast Iron Historic District. The eastern subsection includes portions of Crosby and Centre Streets between Houston and Canal Streets, and the western subsection includes buildings on the west side of West Broadway.

The area is characterized by store and loft buildings that were built after the Civil War and helped transform the residential neighborhood to an active commercial zone in the late nineteenth century. Architectural styles displayed in the district include Second Empire, Renaissance Revival, and Italianate. (read more…)

Unions, contractors, and developers call for public benefit corporation to replace DOB. On May 6, 2008, the City Council’s Housing and Buildings Committee heard testimony from the acting Commissioner of the New York City Department of Buildings, Robert LiMandri, and the public on a dozen proposed local laws aimed at improving safety at construction sites in the City.

Council Member Jessica Lappin sponsored Intro 760 that would give Buildings the power to order a site owner to hire an independent safety monitor, at the expense of a site owner, to work exclusively at construction sites with repeated safety violations. Council Member Tony Avella sponsored an even stricter measure, Intro 697, that would allow Buildings to deny permits to developers who repeatedly violate building codes and zoning laws. Council Members Miguel Martinez and Letitia James sponsored Intro 761 and 759, respectively, that would require contractors to post signs in at least nine languages at all construction sites to inform workers of their right to report unsafe conditions via a new anonymous construction industry whistleblower hotline, separate from 311. Council Member Melissa Mark-Viverito sponsored Intro 688, which would require Buildings to register all general contractors for new buildings. Lastly, Intro 763, sponsored by Council Member Annabel Palma, would add all “housekeeping” violations, such as excessive debris and broken safety fences, to the Building Code’s list of immediately hazardous violations. (read more…)